Fayette County Jail
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La Grange Area Chamber of Commerce (Fayette County Jail)
1881, Andrewartha and Wahrenberger. 171 S. Main St.
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(Photograph by Gerald Moorhead )
One block from the courthouse is the former Fayette County Jail, whose most infamous inmates included Raymond Hamilton and Gene O'Dare, members of Bonnie and Clyde's gang captured after a robbery in nearby Carmine. The T-shaped, rough-faced limestone building with a crenellated tower over a classical pediment includes a jailer's quarters and cells. Jim Flournoy was sheriff at the time when the work of Houston's investigative reporter Marvin Zindler led to the closing of the infamous Chicken Ranch, a nearby brothel that operated from 1905 to 1973. When a modern justice center opened in 1985, the old jail sat empty for ten years and reopened as the Chamber of Commerce and includes memorabilia and artifacts from the old jail.
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Location: La Grange, TexasRegional Overviews:Architect:Types:Styles:no metadata availableMaterials:
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Citation
Gerald Moorhead et al., "La Grange Area Chamber of Commerce (Fayette County Jail)", [La Grange, Texas], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/TX-01-PF30.
Print Source
Buildings of Texas: Central, South, and Gulf Coast, Gerald Moorhead and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2013, 87-87.
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